TUESDAY REVIEW: Monsters

A couple of months ago, I began reading about “Monsters”, an indie sci-fi film directed by a British special effects director named Gareth Edwards. Edwards devised the plot, directed the film and did all the special effects work on an extremely small budget (by Hollywood standards.)

In fact, “Monsters” was so impressive that this seemingly unknown director got the nod to oversee the massive Godzilla reboot that’s in the works.

Currently streaming on Netflix, “Monsters” is perfectly balanced. This is more than a monster movie. Yes, there are impressive, well-shot interactions with the creatures, but the movie is a more about what happens to relationships when put under extreme pressure. There’s an added creepiness of the dystopian setting where the two main characters are thrown together in a race to escape. There’s a love story here, but most definitely a sci-fi one…which is refreshing in a film culture obsessed with the romantic comedy.

The movie has been described as something between Cloverfield and District 9 and it’s a good comparison, mostly due to the shell-shocked setting in which the storyline takes place. It doesn’t hurt that the movie ends with a twist.

This movie isn’t any ONE thing. It’s fresh and surprising and unexpected. Sounds awesome, right?